[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3303-H3304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1553, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1999

  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 175 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 175

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the State of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 1553) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
     year 2000 and fiscal year 2001 for the National Weather 
     Service, Atmospheric Research, and National Environmental 
     Satellite, Data and Information Service activities of the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for 
     other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be 
     dispensed with. Points of order against consideration of the 
     bill for failure to comply with clause 4(a) of rule XIII are 
     waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and 
     shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by 
     the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
     Science. After general debate the bill shall be considered 
     for amendment under the five-minute rule. It shall be in 
     order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of 
     amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the 
     nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on 
     Science now printed in the bill. The committee amendment in 
     the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. 
     During consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chairman 
     of the Committee of the Whole may accord priority in 
     recognition on the basis of whether the Member offering an 
     amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the 
     Congressional Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 
     of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed shall be considered as 
     read. The chairman of the Committee of the Whole may: (1) 
     postpone until a time during further consideration in the 
     Committee of the Whole a request for a recorded vote on any 
     amendment; and (2) reduce to five minutes the minimum time 
     for electronic voting on any postponed question that follows 
     another electronic vote without intervening business, 
     provided that the minimum time for electronic voting on the 
     first in any series of questions shall be 15 minutes. At the 
     conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the 
     Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with 
     such amendments as may have been adopted. Any Member may 
     demand a separate vote in the House on any amendment adopted 
     in the Committee of the Whole to the bill or to the committee 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute. The previous 
     question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and 
     amendments thereto to final passage without intervening 
     motion except one motion to recommit with or without 
     instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Collins). The gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Reynolds) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending 
which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During the 
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of 
debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 175 is an open rule providing for the 
consideration of H.R. 1553, the National Weather Service and Related 
Agencies Authorization Act of 1999.
  The purpose of this legislation is to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2001 for the National Weather Service, 
Atmospheric Research, and National Environmental Satellite, Data and 
Information Service activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, and for other purposes.
  The rule waives points of order against consideration of the bill for 
failure to comply with clause 4(a) of rule XIII requiring a 3-day 
layover of the committee report.
  The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate, equally divided and 
controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Science.
  The rule further provides that it shall be in order to consider as an 
original bill for the purpose of amendment under the 5-minute rule the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on 
Science and now printed in the bill.
  The rule provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
shall be open for amendment at any point. The Chair is authorized by 
the rule to grant priority to recognition to Members who have 
preprinted their amendments in the Congressional Record prior to their 
consideration.
  The rule allows the chairman of the Committee of the Whole to 
postpone votes during consideration of the bill and to reduce voting 
time to 5 minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a 15-
minute vote.
  Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with or 
without instructions.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that House Resolution 175 is a fair rule. It 
is an open rule for the consideration of H.R. 1553, the National 
Weather Service and Related Agencies Authorization Act of 1999.
  It is my understanding that some Members may wish to offer germane 
amendments on this bill, and under this open rule they will have every 
opportunity to do so. H.R. 1553 authorizes funding for several very 
important weather service programs in the United States. In fact, 
funding for the National Weather Service alone is about one-third of 
the total annual National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
budget.
  Mr. Speaker, as the events of Monday, May 3, in Oklahoma showed us, 
we are still often powerless against the fury of Mother Nature. An 
outbreak of more than 40 tornadoes claimed 44 lives, destroyed or 
heavily damaged 5,200 homes, and left more than $1 billion in property 
damage in its wake. The damage to life, property, and community was 
devastating, but it could have been even worse without the National 
Weather Service's first tornado warning at 4:45 p.m.
  This rule, and its underlying bill, will help improve, modernize and 
automate

[[Page H3304]]

weather observations and improve public forecasts and warnings of 
severe weather events.
  The fact is the National Weather Service provides a valuable source 
of early warning and observations to the American people. Whether a 
tornado or hurricane, blizzard or tropical storm, this rule and its 
underlying bill can save countless lives and property by assuring early 
and accurate warning systems.
  Further, atmospheric research programs have helped improve severe 
weather forecast and warning capabilities, and improved knowledge about 
severe storms and the science of weather modification, important for 
U.S. transportation and agriculture.
  I would like to commend the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman 
Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Brown), the 
ranking member, for their hard work on this legislation. I urge my 
colleagues to support both this open rule and the underlying bill.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 175 is a fair, 
completely open rule, and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. Mr. Speaker, this is an open rule. The debate will be equally 
divided and controlled by the majority, and equally divided, as far as 
the debate is concerned, between the majority and minority.
  The rule permits amendments to come up under the 5-minute rule, which 
is the normal amending process in the House. All Members on both sides 
will have the opportunity to offer germane amendments.
  This bill, Mr. Speaker, is about research to be conducted by the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It has tremendous 
potential to pay off through improved environmental quality and better 
weather prediction.
  This bill provides no increase in funding in fiscal year 2001 for 
that research. Consequently, inflation will result in a slight cut in 
spending power. Funding in important areas of research like this should 
remain stable. Therefore, it is unfortunate that the committee rejected 
an amendment to provide a modest 3 percent increase in fiscal year 
2001.
  This rule waives the requirement for a 3-day layover of the committee 
report. This was necessary because the report was not filed until 
Tuesday. Waiving this rule gives Members a little less time to examine 
the bill and to draft amendments.
  Despite these concerns, the bill is relatively uncontroversial. The 
rule is an open rule which will give Members the opportunity to offer 
amendment. The rule was adopted by voice vote of the Committee on 
Rules. For these reasons, I can support the rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I 
yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on 
this resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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